“Discrimination0”, the project organised by AEGEE-Lviv, AEGEE-Dresden and AEGEE-Moskva has already come to its end. The project consisted of two parts which took place in Ukraine and Germany in the format of youth exchange. The main goal of the event – promoting tolerance and unity for building a society free of any kind of discrimination and stereotypes.

The first part took place in Lviv on October 2nd-7th. During the week, every day was very different from the others and very intensive. The first day of the project was devoted to finding the definition of discrimination and discussing some controversial points about it. Then we talked about the discrimination of disabled people and got acquainted with the international sign language. We also had a day devoted to gender discrimination and meeting with representatives of the League of Women’s Rights Protection “Harmony of the Equal”. They shared with us some important information about gender discrimination in Ukraine and the ways it can be revealed. We also learned some legal aspects of this problem. As Lviv is considered to be one of the oldest and the most beautiful cities of Europe, our organisers also included an excursion part to the programme. So, we had a city tour with an amazing guide who let us in on the city secrets and a trip around three old castles situated in the Lviv region. It is also worth mentioning the informal part of the project – communication, games to know each other, evening walks and parties!

The second part of the “Discrimination0” project took part in Dresden from the 17th to the 22nd of November. Due to our amazing organisers, the second part was mostly focused on the themes that weren’t discussed before. So, we had a reflection workshop with a long conversation on privileges in society and empathy towards other people. We tried to understand the phenomenon of PEGIDA, to find out the real ways to react against discrimination, to develop a civil courage and understand the main problems of the muslim community. A gender issue was also present in our discussions, but not in a way we were used to; an exhibition, “The boringly normal man”, dedicated to masculinity made us think about this social construct. What does it mean – being a man in the XXI century? Which problems are men usually faced with? Now almost everybody agrees we must fight against gender inequality, but without understanding the nature of femininity and masculinity it would not be possible.

“Discrimination0” has come to its end. To sum up, the Dresden part differs from the Lviv one on its topics and on the questions we were trying to solve. But that’s the most important thing! Two countries having a different background and different experiences uniting against the mutual problem, trying to learn from each other and to understand each other. Reacting against discrimination is very important, but the first and the main thing our action can start with is a feeling of empathy towards somebody and understanding of the situation. We strongly believe that “Discrimination0” had an impact on the participants and they will feel now informed and empowered enough to make a difference in their society and stand for values as diversity, trust and understanding. We want to thank the foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (EVZ), the Federal Foreign Office and the Robert Bosch Stiftung for making this project possible!

Written by AEGEE-Lviv

After officially being upgraded to AEGEE-Dresden, the local has become quite famous for their successful Buddy Programme, their recent Regional Training Course (RTC) and just now for their latest event under the motto “Free Hugs for Ukraine”. Jorge Sánchez Hernández, president of AEGEE-Dresden, spoke to The AEGEEan about this idea and how it was carried into effect.

The reasons behind AEGEE-Dresden’s idea to do something about the current events in Ukraine are easy to understand. “The current and past issues happening in Ukraine are very present in some of our lives. We have a lot of friends from Ukraine, and we felt the need to do something to at least raise awareness and show them our support in times of sadness”, Jorge tells us . Especially since they are good friends with AEGEE-Kyïv and even plan to have an exchange with them soon, AEGEE-Dresden wanted to start an action to raise awareness about the topic.

Although an information stand or giving out flyers might have been an approach to such a street action, AEGEEans from Dresden chose a different method. They gathered to give out hugs! “Everybody likes hugs, and nobody likes war, so this was the best combination to bring up a sad topic but leave them with a nice smile after the conversation”, you can read on their homepage.

First, as so often in our modern times, a Facebook event was created and throughout the week, posts informed about the issues in Ukraine. Members of the antenna talked about the issue, prepared cardboards and markers, and flags were gathered.

On Saturday, 24th of January, the time had come! Four members of AEGEE-Dresden gathered in one of the main shopping streets of Dresden, joined by another girl from the Ukraine and started to give out hugs, spread europtimism and inform people if they had questions.

One of Jorge’s favourite moments was when people were unsure about hugging at first, but then, after hearing what the event was about, gladly came closer to get their hug – some of them running! In general, especially the young people were really open and liked the idea.

The biggest surprise for the members of AEGEE-Dresden was when they were approached by a journalist from Berlin who was already waiting for them! He had come to Dresden to film their street action – without them even knowing about it. Jorge explains: “Teachers had spoken about the street action to their students in class, and some came just because of that. We couldn’t believe the reach of our event!”

All in all, they “gave 438 hugs, raised awareness about the topic, and brought many smiles with it”, Jorge concludes. “It was a very fun morning, and we have many stories to tell.”

The members of AEGEE-Dresden are not done yet! They are planning to do more street actions after the exams period and will for sure organise more events about Ukraine. Their exchange with AEGEE-Kyiv, which will take place in May, might be a good opportunity for that, especially since they will have a session open to all the students and interested people in which everyone will have the chance to hear about what the Ukrainians have to say and to ask them questions. Moreover, ten PhD students from Kharkiv will visit Dresden in June and the antenna is already planning to do something as well. Stay tuned and await more news to come about this local. Or just visit them in person: “Meet us during our weekly meetings! Every Wednesday starting at 20h, the place is always written on our Facebook page”, Jorge recommends.

Written by Katja Sontag, AEGEE-Aachen

From the 11^th until the 14^th of December, AEGEE-Dresden organised their very first Regional Training Course (RTC), which was also their first international event since they were re-founded. Adina Letzguβ, one of the participants, wrote a report for The AEGEEan about her experiences during her four days in the German town.

What is the result of 16 participants, three trainers and 5 organisers spending four days of workshops and leisure program in the beautiful city of Dresden? An awesome and unforgettable experience full of AEGEE spirit, self-development… and of course lots of fun!

This four day training course started with a great three hour long city tour through Dresden held by a former president of AEGEE-Dresden, Stefan May. As he is a Dresden-born, student of history he not only showed us the most popular buildings in Dresden, but also told many interesting stories about them and the history of Dresden. Due to the chilly German weather, the cold crept into participants, but that wasn’t a problem for main organiser Jorge Sánchez Hernández (president of AEGEE-Dresden): “Guys, leave all your bags on the side and come close together… closer … and now: let’s play the rabbit game … (he started jumping forming his hands to small paws, shouting) rabbit attack, rabbit attack, rabbit attack,…” Simple but very, very effective and funny. From then on, the rabbit attack was a running gag of this training course (by the way, you can also vary the game playing penguin attack, hamster attack etc. – lots of fun and warmer feet guaranteed.).

Continuing the program with a stop at the important Striezel Christmas Market, participants had the opportunity to get “infected” by the pre-Christmas atmosphere in Germany and of course to try the typical German and Dresden Christmas specialties like Glühwein, Bratwurst and Dresdner Christstollen. After driving to the accommodation, the evening ended with a ‘soft party’ giving participants and organisers the chance to get to know each other better. The next two days contained many different workshops under the topic of self-development. The sessions covered a variety of relevant fields and topics about the subject and many, many opportunities to exercise them.

Starting with workshops about communication and intercultural communication the next sessions gave attention to feedback processes, time management and storytelling including many practical parts and opportunities to directly train the new gained knowledge. Thematically the first day of workshops ended with an improvisation course consisting of many practical and funny exercises. The main topic of the second workshop day was public speaking which included not only courses about how to build and deliver a speech, but also about the visualizing part of a speech, a simulation of a job interview and a session about non-verbal communication. As completion of these two very instructive days, the participants could implement their new knowledge in a final speech which each of them had to hold at the end of this day.

Besides this quite serious program – which anyway included a lot of laughing and fun, especially during the practical training parts – the organisers created a perfect leisure program. After the first evening out at the Christmas Market the second evening ended with a costume party. As a result of the choice of two mottos for the costume – animal or space – interesting creatures like space cats were dancing around at night. Finally there was European Night during the last evening, but I think there’s no further comment needed for that, except one special drink the organisers prepared directly in front of our eyes: Feuerzangenbowle, a traditional German drink during Christmas time.

In contrast to the big variety of outfits at the costume party, during this evening everyone was asked to wear a white T-shirt. Not for starting a wet T-shirt contest or something like that, but to be written on by the others with comments, statements, pictures etc. Thanks to that, everybody now has his personal and unique souvenir of this event. Besides the program, the surroundings did the rest to make this event super awesome: perfect accommodation and really, really delicious meals cooked by Ingo Kaiser (AEGEE-Dresden). And unforgettable: the all-morning wake up song Salsa Tequila by Anders Nilsen! This song gave energy for the whole day!

But in the end one thing has to be clearly highlighted: this was the very first international event of the new antenna AEGEE-Dresden and it was a complete success. It was an awesome event from the very beginning. Thanks for doing such a great job, AEGEE-Dresden! Some quotes:

“Our participants were just perfect. That’s what made our RTC so good.” (Jorge Sanchez Hernandez, Main Organiser, AEGEE-Dresden)

“It’s amazing when you realize that you need less than 48h to develop your communication and presentation skills” (Sonia Herrera, participant, AEGEE-Thessaloniki)

“Great blending of valuable workshops and epic party nights” (Daniel Fonseca Pilzecker, participant, AEGEE-Dresden)

“Salsa, Tequila, Corazón… and awesome food!” (Eileen Gioia, participant, AEGEE-Bamberg)

Written by Adina Letzguβ, AEGEE-Mannheim

During the Autumn Agora in Cagliari, Jorge Sánchez Hernández took the stage to present AEGEE-Dresden, which was at that moment still a contact. After his speech however, he signed the Convention d’Adhesion, transforming his contact into a contact antenna. Looking at the endless amounts of time, work and motivation he put into re-founding a local in Dresden, The AEGEEan thought it was about time to find out more about him! 

The AEGEEan: First of all, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Who are you, and when and why did you join AEGEE?

Jorge: I’m Jorge, a 21 years old Spaniard living in Dresden. I love traveling, meeting people from different countries and cultures, food, beer, and AEGEEans. I joined AEGEE-Alicante on the day of the deadline to apply for a Summer University in 2013. I wanted to go to the SU in Helsinki, but it was the one with the most applications that year, so I decided to go to the Dutch-Deutsch Adventure organised by Enschede, Utrecht and Köln. The experience was so good that I became active right away. AEGEE has been very important in my life since then.

You are the re-founder of AEGEE-Dresden. What made you decide to start up a contact?

Made by Marco Müser, AEGEE-Köln

Since I moved to Dresden being a fresh member, I wanted to experience more in AEGEE, I had some experience with the European level, but no local level experience. AEGEE was such a good platform for me to develop my skills and meet awesome and inspiring people, that I just had to found a contact in Dresden to be able to share this opportunity with other students. It was quite hard to found a contact in a different country, without a network in the city, without proficiency in the language (I moved to Germany in November with no knowledge of German and founded the contact in March), and being alone at first. A month later however, Ingo from AEGEE-Aachen (who is now my flatmate) came, and we got Nora from another program, and everything started to grow. With four to five people, we were managing a buddy program for almost 400 students, as well as organizing a Regional Training Course, an exchange, building a web page and a long list of stuff. It has been a lot of work, and it still is, but we do it with passion!

Do you have any tips for other contacts who want to become a contact antenna too?

First of all, we would love to help any contacts who need help, so they can contact us and we will try to understand their situation and try to give our best advice. My tip would be to start organizing events. Even if you feel like you don’t have enough people (even if you’re just one), things will eventually work out and if you put passion into it, people will join you. Find something that is missing in your city, what other associations are not doing, and link it to AEGEE to attract new members. A good relation with the university is a must to grow fast. We get a lot of support since we became part of an official body of the university. We have an office and some financial support, and they also promote some of our projects. What is most important for me to grow, is that there is a good atmosphere in the team. Without being real friends and doing things together, I don’t think it would work so well.

What are your plans with AEGEE-Dresden in the upcoming months?

We just organised a Regional Training Course called “Develop Yourself!”, taking place from 11th – 14th December. In January we will host thirty AEGEEans from AEGEE-Krakow, who come from the 8^th until the 11^th to spend an awesome weekend with us in Dresden. Some days later we will also have an important meeting with the international department of the city hall to present our projects, and we will have our local Agora. After that, plans are still being discussed, but we have two other exchanges, a Travel Summer University, as well as some Local Training Courses coming up!

What have you done in AEGEE so far, besides setting up a contact in Dresden?

I was a helper at ZarAgora, taking pictures of all of you sleeping in plenaries. They will come to life when you expect them the least… I also was the Secretary of the Environmental Working Group (EnWG) last term, and I am still active in AEGEE-Alicante. But since February, AEGEE-Dresden has taken all my AEGEE time and I don’t have time this year for any European Projects, maybe next year again, but I like the local level as well.

Is there something you still want to do with AEGEE?

Of course I have dreams in AEGEE, but maybe I will keep them for now. If they become true, you will know! I would love to get some time and people to work on the CIA and change the situation of the contacts and contact antennae, since it’s not so convenient right now. It’s a lot harder to be a contact or a contact antenna since you don’t have many members, funds or experience, but the antenna criteria make it even more difficult.

What is the most fond memory you have of AEGEE?

I don’t think I could choose one, so I will choose three even though it’s still hard. One was being a helper at ZarAgora. It was really amazing to see so many people from so many countries, meeting people with unpronounceable names (yeah, it’s like the pot calling the kettle black) and it was an incredible surge of inspiration and motivation. The second was the Cantus I had with AEGEE-Enschede in my first SU with Paul Smits as Senior. It was really such a good experience I will never forget in my life. They were super creative and original. I recommend everyone to go for SU to Enschede, they are very professional. The third one, and maybe the one I will remember the most, was signing the CdA at Agora Cagliari. Lots of things accomplished with my team to reach that point. But, I can’t finish this without saying that the most valuable thing that AEGEE has given me is all the amazing people I have met on the way. All these people inspire me to keep going forward in all the projects and also outside of AEGEE, even when things don’t look so bright.

Written by Svenja van der Tol, AEGEE-Nijmegen

A few years back, AEGEE-Dresden was erased from the list of antennae. Luckily, in the beginning of 2014, it became a Contact of AEGEE-Europe again and just a few days ago, Dresden was officially promoted to Contact Antenna at Agora Cagliari. Although these events are quite recent and the number of active members is limited, Dresden managed to build up a very successful Buddy Program for international students. The AEGEEan talked to Ingo Kaiser, current treasurer of the contact antenna, about the history and plans of AEGEE-Dresden and especially about their extraordinary Buddy Program.

In 2003 already, AEGEE-Dresden was established but became inactive seven years later due to a lack of active members. When Ingo Kaiser, by then already an experienced AEGEE member because of his work in AEGEE-Aachen, moved to Dresden in the beginning of 2014, he was very pleased when he found out that Jorge Sánchez Hernández, from AEGEE-Alicante, had registered a Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Dresden just a few weeks before. That was the first step to reviving AEGEE-Dresden! “We worked very hard in the last few months to start activities, gain members, transfer the old registered association from 2003 from the old board to the recent one, get funding from the University and prepare everything for the signing of the Convention d’Adhésion at Agora Cagliari”, Ingo tells us.

It was not an easy task to revive the old antenna, because they were lacking members and therefore were running out of time every single day. They had to deal with quite a number of obstacles, the biggest one being such a small thing as the name of the contact. While there actually was no such thing as AEGEE-Dresden in terms of AEGEE-Europe (by then, there was only a contact and AEGEEans in Dresden therefore should not use the scheme “AEGEE-cityname”), the registered association “AEGEE-Dresden e.V.” still existed on paper and the name was used. A situation which was quite confusing: “I think, I personally had to invest more time in discussing this specific topic, which is not covered by the CIA, with the Network Commission, Juridical Commission and the Comité Directeur than any other AEGEE-related topic in the last month”. In fact, during Agora Cagliari, a motion by the Comité Directeur and the Network Commission was proposed, in order to clarify the linkage that Contacts have with AEGEE-Europe.

Nevertheless, the process of becoming an official antenna is doing well right now. One aspect which helped a lot was the fact that both Ingo and Jorge were already experienced members who had a lot of contacts all over the Network. By now, the contact antenna has around eleven new and active members. And even some more people are helping them to organize the Buddy Program, a project which is quite extraordinary, especially taking into account how recently the contact antenna was re-founded and that there are not so many active members.

The idea behind the Buddy Program is easy. It is a program which brings together local and international students who come to Dresden to study at one of the Universities. Their two aims are to give the internationals a good and easy start in the city and to give the local students the chance to experience a more international flair “so they want to join AEGEE”, Ingo says smilingly. The idea of such a program came up quite instantly since Dresden was missing such a program when Jorge first came to the city. Later they found out that one of the very first International Buddy Programs in Germany was introduced in Dresden back in 2001 and that it had even won several prizes. Ingo explains the further process: “We were able to contact the “old” organizers of that program and even got a very nice and active new member that way”, meaning Nora, the current secretary of the contact antenna. Within the Buddy Program, many events are happening. The most successful idea was an event called “International Night” which took place only a few weeks ago. The concept resembles that of a European Night, only that is was even more international. More than 120 people attended. All in all, there are almost 400 international students taking part in the Buddy Program at the moment.

That so many people find out about AEGEE-Dresden is surely due to good advertisement. The AEGEE Contact Antenna advertises mainly on their own website and – very successfully – on Facebook, but also within the university on digital screens and on print media such as flyers. “We even got featured in several of the smaller newspapers”, says Ingo. Nevertheless, one of the biggest supporters and also advertisers is the University of Dresden. While normally the members of AEGEE approach the University and ask for help, it was different in their case: “They were approaching us with ideas of how to promote our association. I had never experienced it in this way, only the other way around”, says Ingo. For example, the University’s International Office sent the Buddy Program flyers to all the new international students together with the acceptance letters via postal service. Therefore, they actually reached 100% of the internationals, which was just “awesome”.

The Buddy Program works well, one can conclude. In terms of winning new members for their antenna, the internationals are not the main target audience though. Instead, the main target group are the local students, the local Buddies. “By organizing nice events, like all the stuff happening in the Buddy Program right now, we want to link them to AEGEE and the European idea. And – it works. The Buddy Program is a good magnet for getting new active members”, Ingo tells us. One can be sure that they will have no problems growing to a bigger local in no time.

Even though the Buddy Program is obviously a very big and successful project, it is not the only thing that the contact antenna has planned: Soon, a Regional Training Course (RTC) will take place in Dresden from 11th to 14th December. It will be a four day all-included training course for 25 local students and AEGEEans, and it will be the first international event for them.

AEGEE-Dresden seems more than motivated and obviously they manage to transform their motivation into actual success! And for all the support they got on their way they want to say thanks: “I want to thank all the people that made AEGEE-Dresden coming to life again and constantly support us, including the members of the old AEGEE-Dresden who we call “Dinos” and dedicated our mascot to, DresDino. My biggest wish for the future is that AEGEE stays alive here in Dresden.”

Written by Katja Sontag, AEGEE-Aachen